Cahokia Jazz

Hardcover, 496 pages

English language

Published Oct. 4, 2023 by Faber & Faber.

ISBN:
9780571381418

View on OpenLibrary

5 stars (3 reviews)

In a city that never was, in an America that never was, on a snowy night at the end of winter, two detectives find a body on the roof of a skyscraper.

It’s 1922, and Americans are drinking in speakeasies, dancing to jazz, stepping quickly to the tempo of modern times. Beside the Mississippi, the ancient city of Cahokia lives on – a teeming industrial metropolis, containing every race and creed. Among them, peace holds. Just about. But that body on the roof is about to spark off a week that will spill the city’s secrets, and bring it, against a soundtrack of wailing clarinets and gunfire, either to destruction or rebirth.

5 editions

Stunning

5 stars

An alternative history where the Native American Cahokia Nation was not wiped out by disease from white explorers and settlers, and went on to thrive. It takes place in the 1920s and it's very noir-esque. While it is a detective story that does come together nicely, it is more of a character piece. There are so many well developed characters and the fleshing out of the Cahokia people overall is easily believable.

Review of 'Cahokia Jazz' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

This is a noir-indebted alternative history novel focusing on the urbanized Cahokia in the 1920s—it’s a weird mix of elements, but one that seemed quite tailored to what I would like. And fortunately, I wasn’t wrong. It does get off to a slow start—some of the more standard detective-y openings, seemingly stunted characters, etc. But don’t let that put you off it—it does get better, and the characters and plot are more interesting than they would seem at first glance. As far as historical fiction goes, this book manages to ace that core aspect of transporting the reader to a certain time and place. The storytelling is concise and well-paced, too. Spufford is certainly an author I am going to look out for—and his catalogue of previous novels seems promising.

The characters were delightfully complex and palpably flawed beings. Our protagonist, Joe Barrow, is an everyman character that the reader …

No small accomplishment

5 stars

A tad overstuffed, but (because of this?) succeeds as (all of) hardboiled noir, speculative anthropology, and cathartic routing of white supremacy, which is no small accomplishment. Could have done with a more low-key ending, in my opinion, for some light and shade, but superb writing and characterisation throughout, with more than a few lines that elicited audibly-impressed noises. This alt-history nerd left happy.